The Laws of Spiritual Motion

By: Suresh Manoharan

"​​Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for
the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. ​​Blessed are you when people
insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you
falsely on account of me. ​​​​​​​Rejoice and be glad because your reward
is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the
same way." (Matt. 5:10-12 NET)

The Fundamental Law of motion, designed by the
all-wise God and discovered and revealed to us by Sir Issac Newton, says
that we move forward whilst walking or running, not just by exerting the
force on earth with our feet by ourselves, but also by the propulsive
force that the earth exerts in return when we first exert force on it.
How true in the spiritual realm also. Simply put, the act of Gospel
advancement by spiritually-vibrant Christians is always countered by the
resisting forces of Evil. (The words, "spiritually-vibrant Christians"
are used advisedly here, for only the spiritually vibrant Christians
like Apostle Paul can do the same.) Thus, Gospel advancement is
essentially, "a fight between the liberating truth on one side and the
lies of the Devil on the other".

How often in Christian history
have we not witnessed the breaking out of persecution; but has it
registered on us that these persecutions that exert pressure in the
opposite direction to the Gospel advancement have actually induced
further beneficial growth of the persecuted Christians (Romans
5:3-4/James
1:2)? Has it registered on us that this makes them "move forward",
as it were, spiritually? Truth be told, minus the persecutions (the
scope of which is also limited by the infinitely Wise God See
1 Cor. 10:13), the Apostle Paul, along with the genuine Christians
of the different stages of human history, would not have grown
spiritually to the extent desired by the Master.

The
persecuted church, like in the times of the cruel Roman Emperors of say,
Nero's or Domitian's day, was always a healthy Church. With the arrival
of Roman Emperor Constantine, however, who favoured Christianity, the
Church came into a constant state of back-sliding. It had slipped
steadily, in fact, all the way into the Dark Ages before the
God-inspired reformation wrought by Martin Luther.

Say
Fellow Sojourner...are you being persecuted? Are sentiments of revenge
enveloping you? Depend on the strength of the joy-giving Holy Spirit (Nehemiah
8:10/Romans
15:13/1
Peter 1:8) to push forward and to overcoming natural, carnal
impulses for the glory of God! Hey, in the process, your patience,
meekness and gentleness is bound to grow, also for His glory!

Prayer: Father, enable me to cling to You in all situations whereby
my sustenance in all situations (good or bad) is guaranteed. In Jesus'
Name. Amen